Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Sunday, May 27, 2012

The hymn ‘Just as I Am’ has been around since 1835.
It became the 'official' invitation song of the Billy Graham Crusades. Many
souls have found Jesus as Savior in response to the simple beauty of this song.

When poet Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871) was 46 years old, an elderly man approached
her at a dinner party and asked if she was a Christian. She considered him rude
and unkind, and that his question was inappropriate. After the man walked away,
Charlotte could
not get his question out of her mind so she went to find the man, and asked how
to become a Christian. That night she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
Soon after, she wrote Just as I Am as a testimony to her new found faith,
and as a tribute to the man who had told her how to become a Christian just the way
she was...

These are the first three verses of the song.

Just as I Am

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

For happiness brings happiness
And loving ways bring love;
And Giving is the treasure
That contentment is made of.

...Amanda Bradley

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Got a Superior Court Jury Summons in the mail
yesterday. It states: I must report at 8:30 am (I’m not totally sure I can
comply with that time), I can not bring my child, there are no child care
services available for my child should I bring my child, appropriate dress is
required (what is their definition of appropriate?), I must bring my summons, I
must bring any desired reading material (hmmm), and most
importanly...ABSOLUTELY NO WEAPONS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COURTHOUSE, (hmmm, all
captial letters, bold, and underlined). I think I’d better leave my sling shot
at home.Get this – I get free parking!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

When the world-re­nowned lay preach­er, Dwight Ly­man Moody, lay on his death bed in his North­field, Mass­a­chu­setts
home, Will Thomp­son made a spe­cial vi­sit to in­quire as to his con­di­tion.
The at­tend­ing phy­si­cian re­fused to ad­mit him to the sick­room, and Moody
heard them talk­ing just out­side the bed­room door. Re­cog­niz­ing Thomp­son’s
voice, he called for him to come to his bed­side. Tak­ing the Ohio po­et-com­pos­er by the hand, the dy­ing
evan­gel­ist said, “Will, I would ra­ther have writ­ten “Soft­ly and Ten­der­ly
Je­sus is Call­ing” than an­y­thing I have been able to do in my whole life.”

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Yesterday afternoon, I had to stop by a lab for blood tests.
(Ouch!) There was just one woman, ‘Maisha’, working the check-in window
and drawing blood. When I sat down waiting for the needle stick, I saw
some adorable pictures of a baby girl displayed on one wall. One was of
her first birthday wearing a princess crown. So sweet! I asked
Maisha how old she was now, and she said Anaia, her granddaughter, was 18
months old.

I couldn’t find the right words to say when Maisha told me Anaia had an
inoperable brain tumor. She told me about the struggles and about the
radiation treatments and about the chemo treatments and about how that precious
baby still played and still smiled and still ‘talked’. That brought tears
to my eyes. Maisha wanted to know why, what terrible sins had she
committed to be passed on to Anaia? She wanted to know why, why, why
Anaia? And, why not her? I told Maisha that I would pray daily for Anaia,
for her mother, and for her. As I was leaving, we shared a teary hug.

I’m so ashamed and disappointed with myself. Why couldn’t I explain
the two Bible verses? For me, even researching commentary after
commentary, I still don’t know if I could.

You
shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and
the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to
thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.Exodus
20:5-6 NAS

I’ve decided to write a note to Maisha and drop it by the lab. I hope
my note will somehow make it clear that her sins aren’t the reason for Anaia’s
cancer. This family has heavy
hearts and I pray that God will strengthen and comfort them every step of the
journey they must take. May God be glorified in the life of Anaia.